Metro Washington Council afl-cio

Amalgamated Bank recently announced it will raise all employee wages to a minimum of $15 an hour, effective immediately. Amalgamated – which maintains a branch in Washington, DC -- called on the banking industry to follow its lead. “As one of the highest grossing industries, it is simply unacceptable that a significant portion of bank workers rely on public assistance,” said Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich. “By raising our minimum wage, we’re hoping to reduce this egregious percentage, and we’re calling on other banks to do the same.” This move came on the heels of the recommendation last month by New York State’s fast-food wage board to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour by 2018, as well as a new study by the National Employment Law Project detailing big discrepancies in wages in the banking industry. According to the study, while full-time bank tellers earn $25,800/year on average, a typical bank CEO makes in the tens of millions of dollars annually after full compensation packages are included.